Shift tube bushings - grease or dry?

[kishy]

Hey all,

I've tracked down a pristine, zero-slop used shift tube and lever to put in my 1991. As most of you will know this is more similar to an aero shifter than a box, due to the 90-91 redesign of oh-so-many little bits of the car.



I picked up a set of new bushings to go with it (Dorman 905107, O'Reilly seems to keep these as a regular stock item, other places not so regular), and am wondering what I should do for lubrication with this thing. I'll be cleaning it up, obviously, but I'm wondering what type of grease should be used. My thinking is to try to stuff the inside of the tube with grease as well as grease the bushings.

I have these options at my disposal. I'm leaning towards the wheel bearing stuff, or even the silicone dielectric grease because they're sticky and more likely to stay in place. Thoughts?

[sly]

I'd use axle grease too.

[gadget73]

if they are a plastic bushing, I'd probably use lithium or silicone grease. Some plastics react poorly with regular wheel bearing grease.

[slack]

if they are a plastic bushing, I'd probably use lithium or silicone grease. Some plastics react poorly with regular wheel bearing grease.

This is how I approach stuff as well. I use white lithium when there's potential plastic interaction. Metal on metal I like bearing grease. White lithium can get harder with age and colder temperatures but I haven't ever really had a problem.

[kishy]

Hmm...that was a concern, yes. They're a hard plastic.

Of the available options then I'd actually go with the tune-up grease because it's thick, whereas the white lithium is thin. The goal would be to make sure there's a semi-permanent layer between the plastic and metal, and white lithium grease just won't maintain that, especially not inside the dashboard where it gets pretty hot in the sun...

I guess the question at this point is how do we confirm what types of grease interact poorly with plastic?
Remember that our factory front wheel bearings had plastic parts and the wheel bearing grease didn't seem to hurt them...

[gadget73]

lithium that isn't in a spray can isn't as thin. its pretty similar in consistancy to tuneup (silicone) grease or thinner chassis grease. The stuff in a can is thinned out so it will spray.


Not all plastics get dumb with grease. it depends on the material, and the type of lubricant as well. Somewhere there is probably a chart of what works with what, but I honestly don't know what it is. Silicone and lithium greases seem to be pretty plastics-friendly tho.

[miamibob]

There ARE charts out on the Internet but you need to know EXACTLY what plastic you wish to use one on.

[kishy]

Grabbed a tube of white lithium grease and indeed, it's thicker.

Did this job yesterday and WOW, feels like a new car. There's still a little wobble from a third bushing that I'd bet many people haven't discovered yet, which lines the hole in the shift lever where the pin goes through it to hold it in the shift tube. There's a thin plastic or nylon bushing in there. I'd like to find a way to replace it but not sure how.

Also, 90 and 91 have slight differences in their shift tubes, with regards to the part that actually attaches to the shift cable. Functionally they are identical, but that metal attachment is slightly different.